Reform UK’s cost-cutting “DOGE” team shows no intention to visit to tackle County Council budget issues

Derbyshire County Council HQ at County Hall. Image by Eddie Bisknell

Reform UK’s cost-cutting “DOGE” team has not made any indication it is interested or intends to visit Derbyshire to tackle its budget issues.

It has now been more than a year since Reform UK were handed the keys to Derbyshire County Council, including flagship pledges around “DOGE” – in a bid to achieve Government efficiency.

In that time, the administration has retitled the role of finance cabinet member to include “DOGE” and the word efficiency, adopted by postholder Councillor John Lawson.

However, Reform UK’s standalone national intervention unit has not approached Derbyshire officials to visit the county to help tackle finances, a meeting was told.

During a county council scrutiny meeting, Councillor Wayne Major, Conservative group deputy leader, said: “There was a lot of noise made about DOGE and Zia (Yusuf, Reform home affairs spokesman, former chairman and DOGE lead). Has any information been sent to DOGE?”

Cllr Lawson responded: “In a word, no. We have not been asked to provide any information. I have not sent or been asked to send any information.”

Asked if he knew if there would ever be a visit from DOGE, Cllr Lawson responded: “I don’t know.”

Councillor Sarah Reaney (Ref), chairing the scrutiny meeting on Thursday, July 9th, said: “My impression is that Zia and his team will only come if required and we are doing fine and maybe that is why he hasn’t visited.”

Before the May 2025 election at which Reform swept to power at County Hall in Matlock, Nigel Farage had visited Denby to talk about his party’s aims for Derbyshire.

He said Reform would “get the auditors in here very quickly and look at all the long-term contracts that have been signed, ask questions about why so much money had been spent on agency staff, a bit of a ‘hair shirt’ approach, no more work from home”.

Mr Farage said “poor decisions, bad business decisions, far too much being spent on consultants, a climate change obsession” all needed rectifying.

However, no such auditors, apart from the regular annual audits which are carried out on behalf of the council, have yet to be called in 14 months into Reform’s time in office.

This comes as the county council reports it finished the last financial year £500,000 in the black overall, but with significant overspends of £27.5 million in children’s services and £8.8 million in adult social care.

Meanwhile, the council has forecast required further cuts of £68.5 million by 2030.

This follows a council tax increase of just less than the maximum, after a pledge to cut taxes.

Cllr Lawson said this was a “tremendous” achievement, saying the administration was leading a “well-run, prudent” council, but said “we are not resting on our laurels”.